Tuesday, April 26, 2011

#6 Paris and my love/hate relationship with it

Paris....
the city of lights, the city of love

I have visited Paris quite a few times, and this time sealed the deal for my relationship with it.

It truly is an amazing city with grandeur, history, beauty and love...


but I can't get myself to ever want to be there again once I have visited. I know you are asking why, but it is just my feeling of forever being a stranger. And I know "stranger"...I have lived in and visited many countries in this world, and I always feel like a stranger, a visitor...or better yet, someone that does not belong in Paris.

The Louvre is wonderful and stimulating for the eye and hearty discussion ensued after my children visited for the first time. My daughter was not sure she was comfortable calling naked bodies art, and she voiced her dislikes like a true critic! Both of our children surprised my husband and I when they truly enjoyed searching the map and finding the path to our next statue or painting that one of us wanted to see. We ended up wandering amongst all the amazing (and not so amazing) halls for about 3 hours! This was much more than I expected and pleased me to no end to give our children this opportunity.



The Eiffel Tower was another highlight. Luckily the lines were bearable in the morning when we went and the view from the top is always spectacular.


The Arc de Triomphe had a special event that involved what looked like military and dignitaries involved, so we only passed and admired the Arc while continuing our walk down the Champs de Elysee.

The stores had their eye candy concept cars,
brand names and fancy clothes, but we found the restaurant where my children tried escargot! My son liked it and my daughter, who never eats fish, actually took up the courage to try it. She declared it was alright with a little jump in her seat to help it go down her throat...precious moment for my husband and I!

The beautiful buildings, lovely streets to walk, the Tuileries to stroll and have lunch...it all really makes for a romantic, lovely city to visit.


But for me, I just feel like a stranger in the crowd...in the throng of many other strangers...

I can not complain too much though...because I always seem to go back!

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who would be so lucky to share the city of love with you, Ballerina Girl!!

Surfer Dude.

mythopolis said...

I am sorry to say I feel the same, and there have been other countries where I felt quite at home quickly. It is a beautiful city, I'll leave it at that.

BLOGitse said...

You lucky girl - I've never been to Paris even if I live in Europe! :)
I felt stranger in Casa...

Betty W said...

Stunning views! And a beautiful city. But it´s not a place I would put on my "to see" list.

Anonymous said...

Amazing. And what awesome experiences for your children. I think I understand the feeling you had a little, but to a lesser degree.I just felt that way on one of the Caribbean islands I was on--everything smelled different, the people just didn't make me feel comfortable and I felt anxious the whole afternoon, even on a holiday. Strange--no one else I was with felt that way.

Fabiola said...

I love all the pics... And I couldn't agree more with the feeling in Paris. I always say Paris is beautiful for 10 days, on the 11th day Les Français start to get on my nerves ; )

And guess where Paulo is right now???

Stickup Artist said...

Hmm. I've never been and am somewhat surprised at the comments. I'll have to go then and see for myself. I figure if I can deal with this hot sandy old desert, I can deal with anything. Sounds like your kids are pretty adventurous! Love all the shots from the Louvre!

FancyHorse said...

I've never been to Paris. I'd like to go someday. I'm loving your pictures!

Nicole said...

First of, your photos are gorgeous. I've been only once in Paris and that was before my camera days.
And we didn't make it to the Louvre, nor up the Tower. Oh well.
But I know what you mean with stranger.
Just too many tourists and you know you are just one of them.